Founder of Croatia's largest private company

(ANSA-AP) - LONDON — London police say a prominent Croatian
businessman has been arrested in Britain on a warrant issued
by Croatian authorities.

Police said Tuesday that 66-year-old Ivica Todoric will appear
in Westminster Magistrates' Court later in the day.

He is the founder of Croatia's largest private company and he
and his former aides are being investigated over its financial
collapse. The company, Agrokor, is the largest retailer in the
Balkans region.

Croatian police raided his home in Croatia last month along
with the homes of former top aides.

Todoric has denied wrongdoing.

A prominent Croatian businessman was arrested in
Britain on Tuesday on a warrant by Croatian authorities who
are investigating his role in the collapse of his company, the
biggest retail company in the Balkans.

London police said that 66-year-old Ivica Todoric, the founder
of Croatia's biggest private food and retail company, Agrokor,
will appear in Westminster Magistrates' Court later in the day.

Todoric was put on Europol's list of the continent's most
wanted fugitives for suspected corruption, forgery of
administrative documents and fraud.

He and his former aides are being investigated over the
company's financial downfall.

Agrokor, which began as a flower-growing operation in the
former Yugoslavia in the 1970s, underwent a rapid expansion
over the past decades that saw it run up debts to creditors
and suppliers of about 6 billion euros ($7 billion). The
company is so large it now accounts for some 15 percent of
Croatia's gross domestic product and how to manage its failure
has become an issue of national concern.

Croatian police raided his home in Croatia last month along
with the homes of former top aides.

Todoric has denied wrongdoing.

After he appeared on Europol's fugitive arrest list, Todoric
wrote on his blog that he was not hiding and that his
conscience was clear.

"As a man whose human rights are deeply violated I have the
right to oppose political persecution," Todoric wrote. (ANSA).